His research spans from fundamental behavioural ecology to applied animal welfare. Related to this, he has developed a research area using principles from behavioural ecology to address applied animal welfare issues. In addition, he also conducts research into a number of other animal welfare topics across a range of species. He is also the Academic Network Lead for the Animal Welfare Research Network and a member of the UK Government’s Animal Welfare Committee. He currently serves as Guest Editor for the Collection, “Social interaction across animal species” and was previously the Guest Editor for the collection “Animal Cognition and Behaviour”.
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We recently invited Dr Gareth Arnott for a Q&A where they answered questions about their research and what it is to work as an Editorial Board Member at Scientific Reports. Some of the questions they answered are below:
What do you like most about being an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports?
The thing I enjoy the most about being an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports is the range and diversity of papers that I come across. I deal with papers spanning topics from behavioural ecology through to animal welfare. The submitted manuscripts are extremely interesting and I have learnt a lot through handling them over the years. Related to this, I also really enjoyed Editing a recent special collection on Animal Cognition and Behaviour.
What do you like most about handling manuscripts at Scientific Reports?
I like seeing a paper improve and develop based on the comments of the reviewers. It demonstrates that the peer review process helps provide constructive feedback that improves the quality of the published paper.
We know that finding reviewers is one of the hardest parts of an editorial role. Do you have any tricks on finding reviewers?
Over the years I have learnt some lessons that help secure reviewers. First, it is best to try and tailor the invitation letter, especially if you know the person you are inviting. Second, you are much more likely to get a reviewer's acceptance from an early career researcher as the more established academics typically have less time to devote to accepting reviewer invitations. I enjoy searching for reviewers as it usually has the benefit of making me aware of other excellent researchers and the work they are doing.
If you were to give a piece of advice to other Editors, what would that be?
The main piece of advice I would give is that as an Editor you should be prepared to use your expertise to assess and make judgements on a paper if the original reviewers did not respond.
How important is reproducibility in research? As an Editor, how do you help authors report reproducible results?
This aspect is extremely important. To help with this, I ensure that the methods contain all the relevant details and in the case of animal studies relevant guidelines (e.g. ARRIVE guidelines) have been adhered to.
What are the key things journals should do to ensure scientific rigor?
In this regard, the key thing journals can do is ensure a robust peer-review process. In addition, journals should appoint editors with the relevant expertise and provide training on what is expected in their role.
Do you think Scientific Reports help reduce publication bias, and if yes – how?
I think Scientific Reports has made an excellent contribution to reducing publication bias through its focus on whether the paper is technically sound rather than making any kind of editorial judgement based on the novelty. This contributes to reducing publication bias and also helps with Open Science and reproducible research.
What would you like to share with your fellow researchers on publishing in an inclusive journal?
This is a good approach to ensure your research is open access and reaches as wide an audience as possible.
What are the biggest challenges that you see for the future of research and research dissemination?
Securing research funding remains a major challenge across disciplines. There are also growing concerns around the ethical and appropriate use of AI in research and publishing. With an increasing number of academic journals, it can also be especially challenging for early career researchers to know where they should aim to publish their work.
You are leading one of our Guest-Edited Collections. What interested you about becoming a Guest Editor? What is your Collection focused on?
I was happy to become a Guest Editor for a Special Collection as it was a great opportunity to handle a number of papers on a topic that I was particularly interested in and had relevant expertise to make a useful contribution to.
The Collection I am currently guest editing (“Social interaction across animal species”) is focused on research related to social interactions in animal groups. Social interactions are fundament drivers of natural and sexual selection. In addition, while of fundamental importance in the wild they also have important implications for animal welfare in captive environments. This includes the need to study the role of positive social interactions as well as more traditionally studied ones such as contest behaviour.
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